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Topic: So this girl I'm dating wanted to be a serious Christian... (Read 678 times)

...last year but fell through because of this other guy. Since I'm nowhere near being a Christian, let alone Orthodox, how could I facilitate her in coming back to Christ and me joining her in this journey?

She works on Sundays, so Divine Liturgy would be out. Same with Wednesday night for Bible Study.

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“There is your brother, naked, crying, and you stand there confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.”

We have a Council of Orthodox Churches and an Orthodox Women of Michigan organization. These always have some event going on - lectures, volunteering together, dinner/dance, retreats, etc.

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Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

I think it would be wise to focus more on yourself and your own salvation right now. More than likely it would be easier for her to pull you away from Orthodoxy than it would be for you to influence her toward it. Every individual who learns about Orthodoxy makes a choice to accept or reject it, that choice is hers. If you live a life going towards Orthodoxy, she will see that in you.

...last year but fell through because of this other guy. Since I'm nowhere near being a Christian, let alone Orthodox, how could I facilitate her in coming back to Christ and me joining her in this journey?

She works on Sundays, so Divine Liturgy would be out. Same with Wednesday night for Bible Study.

No disrespect, but in all honesty, I have always had a problem, even amongst my own parish, with Christians not having their priorities in check in regards to working on Sunday. Sure, I could understand missing 3 out of 4 Sundays due to such obligations, but the very fact that folks seem to miss Sundays for months on end because of "work" arrangements suggests a lack of priorities. Surely in God's Grace with some prayerful effort, at least one Sunday a month or even just once every six weeks could be arranged, however often when I haven't seen folks, even those I know to be otherwise rather pious and sincere folks, tend to give me the same cliched excuse, "Oh, I have to work on Sundays."

It takes courage to be a Christian sometimes, and sometimes that means having the courage to take a day off, to juggle your scheduling and commitments in order to attend Divine Liturgy. After all, it is as Saint James said, "Our lives are but a vapor that appears and disappears briefly on the earth. Instead then of our boasting that we will go into this city or that, stay a year, traffic and make much gain, we should say the Lord willing we do such and such."

From my own direct experience, if you make the brave and bold move to put God on the top priority, all or nothing list at least every so often, He will meet you half way and open the door, but if you don't even prioritize knocking on the door, how could we expect Him to answer?

That being said, if your girlfriend is serious about becoming a "serious Christian" she should seriously challenge the status quo, and make an all-or-nothing gain to ask for what is reasonable, at least one Sunday off every so often to attend religious observances and the Divine Liturgy, and with this genuine seeking, surely God will match the effort with open arms.

It is not that I am callous to people's real world, everyday working situations, its just that I can't possibly understand it always being about work, and never about God. If we do not prioritize God first, how could we expect anything from such little effort? The only offering we have to give God is our time, and it is an offering and a gift precisely because quite honestly sometimes we have other things we needed to do, but in putting God first all things can then get accomplished in a proper order.

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"Seek you first the Kingdom of God, and all things will be added unto you." Gospel of Luke

By the way, I applaud your concern, you must really care for this girl to be willing to help aid her own spiritual growth when you are not necessarily interested in the same direction, that is very sincere. I tend to have to opposite problem, it is hard to meet unattached women in Los Angeles who are seeking to be more Christian rather than less

Stay Blessed,Habte Selassie

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"Yet stand aloof from stupid questionings and geneologies and strifes and fightings about law, for they are without benefit and vain." Titus 3:10